<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Death Blinked First by maraudertimes</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28411539">Death Blinked First</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudertimes/pseuds/maraudertimes'>maraudertimes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Humor, LGBTQA, M/M, Multi, Origin Story, Polyamory, Sexual Content</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:29:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28411539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudertimes/pseuds/maraudertimes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>My dear readers, what you are about to read is a collection of instances wherein our lovely Founders narrowly escape certain death with the help of magic, each other, and a bit of dumb luck.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Godric Gryffindor/Helga Hufflepuff/Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor/Helga Hufflepuff/Rowena Ravenclaw/Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff/Rowena Ravenclaw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Daughter of a Distant Cousin of a Distant Cousin of a Distant Cousin of a King</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the HC '19-'20 Finale, Sandcastle event! The title is taken from Rick Yancy's 5th Wave.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>I really do hate men,</em> Rowena thought to herself as the guards roused her from a slumber that was neither deep, nor peaceful. <em>The bastards are really very quick to call a woman a witch when what they really mean is adulterer. Then again, perhaps if you hadn't been adultering with your betrothed's sister, they might have just called you a whore.</em></p><p>Rowena was right on the money, so they say. Of course, sleeping with a man would have landed her in the same situation - a furious duke for a fiance and an impending death - but daring to fuck his sister had resulted in labels such as seductress, heathen, and witch. Then again, none of those labels were technically wrong.</p><p>Ah yes, Rowena Ravenclaw, the daughter of a distant cousin of a distant cousin of a distant cousin of a king, was a witch. That genealogy also meant she held claim to a title, but considering her title would invariably be changed as soon as she married, she never really cared, and thus, neither should you, dear reader. The important part of that sentence is that she is indeed a witch, and so although she was morally against being called such under the guise of sleeping with a woman, she was unable to call them out on their sexist bullshit because it really wouldn't help matters, now would it?</p><p>No, arguing over the semantics of <em>why</em> she should claim the title of witch would not behoove her nearly as much as remembering her latest invention - an incantation that would allow her to stand amongst the pyre without any repercussions. You see, as a witch during this time, it was always good to assume that any day would be the day that you were to be set on fire, and Rowena was nothing if not prepared.</p><p>As one of the soldiers who was man-handling her - rude - opened the door to the courtyard, she stepped through into the sun and was immediately met with the disgusting sneer of her fiance. Ah yes, Duke Francis the Fucking Useless, as she had dubbed him, was decidedly not happy to see her, but I suppose fucking one's sister on the eve of your wedding has a tendency to sour your relationship.</p><p>"Rowena, my dear," he boomed as the soldiers drew her to her pyre. "What a simply marvelous day for your death, don't you think? I do hope to remember you like this, your face finally freed from your incessant smirk."</p><p>Resisting the urge to roll her eyes - a feat in of itself - Rowena made the effort to smile sweetly at her betrothed, as the men behind her secured her to the post. "As I will remember your sister's, buried between my legs. Do let Josephine know her kisses derived more pleasure from me than yours could ever dream."</p><p>One of the soldiers faltered a bit in the securing, and based on the scowl on Duke Francis' face, the knowledge that Lady Josephine was caught in bed with Rowena was decidedly not a matter of gossip around the castle. At least not yet.</p><p>As the soldiers stepped away from her pyre, Rowena continued to smile down at her fiance, until he nodded once, and her perch was set alight. The fire grew slowly at first, but soon began to roar beneath her, until finally it began to nip at her heels.</p><p>Rowena screamed, a smidge too dramatically if you ask me, as the flames licked her skin. This was, of course, the performance of a lifetime. She continued her caterwauling until she was completely engulfed by the flames, hidden from view, before disapparating with a crack, that to the onlookers sounded like nothing more than another piece of wood, meeting the same fate they assumed Rowena to have succumbed to.</p><p>Of course, without a body, she would not be considered dead, and after the sighting of a beautiful dark-haired woman in a barely singed gown from the lord's peasants made it's way back to the castle, it was none too soon that Duke Francis the Fucking Useless would be after what he considered his. But that, my dear readers, is a tale for another time.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello hello! I hope you enjoyed this, it was written from a "failed execution" prompt!! This chapter is Rowena, next is Helga, and the two after will have Godric and Salazar respectively. There might also be a 5th and 6th chapter who knows!</p><p>If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, concerns, feel free to leave me a review!</p><p>Lo &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Young Girl of Only 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>You've really fucked yourself this time,</em> Helga thought to herself as the lunette closed around her neck. <em>You just had to kick the lord's son right in the balls.</em></p><p><em>To be fair,</em> she argued to herself, <em>he was coming on very strong.</em></p><p>
  <em>Bitch, you're a witch, you did not have to resort to physical violence.</em>
</p><p>That, to be fair, was entirely true. Helga Hufflepuff, a young girl of only 17, was indeed a witch, and a fairly formidable one at that. However she was also quite impulsive, and the overbearing presence of a man a decade her senior, smelling of rye and whiskey, had really fucking pissed her off. And when Helga gets very upset, she sometimes forgets that she is a witch and that magic can solve the problems her hands (or feet) could not.</p><p>However, this specific instance of lack of judgement had led her to this specific moment - bent over the bascule of the guillotine, blade at the ready. She truly was at a loss, considering her wand had been confiscated, as a sharp jab to a nobleman's... prized jewels... was an immediate death sentence, and the man's soldiers had not been swayed by her excuse that it was in fact a stick her mother had given her that was very important and held much sentimentality.</p><p>
  <em>Yes, you've really fucked yourself this time.</em>
</p><p>Rowena Ravenclaw was bored, and the large crowd gathered ahead was enough of an interest to cause her to stop. She was only supposed to be passing through the small town, well aware that her betrothed would be quick to follow after her, but three days of riding through the woods with only berries to eat and thickets to lie in was three days too many, and she wanted a distraction. Her horse carried her closer, the villagers moving aside, sending her curious glances all the while.</p><p><em>Have a portrait commissioned if you're going to stare that much,</em> she thought bitterly. But she knew it wasn't every day a noblewoman covered in dirt, her hair an utter mess, and her dress ripped in unseemly places, so she held her tongue.</p><p>When she finally discerned what was happening, she felt her stomach roll. A young woman was locked into a guillotine on a raised platform. Rowena hated public executions, but this wasn't her land, and if the excessively large castle on the top of the hill behind them was any indication, the lord that ruled over these townfolk had a decidedly tiny penis and was certainly trying to compensate.</p><p>She was about to turn away when the woman marked for death met her eyes. There was something familiar, a spark, a mischievous glint, that Rowena had not seen for many months. One she certainly didn't expect to see from someone who was about to lose their head, but there were many strange people in the world, herself being one of them, so who was she to judge? Rowena paused, her mind racing as the women's impassive face suddenly broke out into a wretched smile.</p><p>And then the guillotine blew up. One second it was there, in all it's wooden glory, a truly marvelous invention, one that would probably stand the test of time, even if history books forgot that it would be used in this time period (a lengthy part of history that you, my dear reader, do not need to be privy to at this time), and then it shattered into pieces that rained down on the crowd.</p><p>It took only a split second for multiple things to race through Rowena's mind. First, the woman must be a witch, and a powerful one at that. Second, with all the villagers aptly crying about said witch, it would not be long until her betrothed caught wind and was back on the hunt for her. Third, she needed to get the fuck out of dodge. And fourth, if the witch was powerful enough to do that fancy bit of magic with no semblance of a wand, Rowena needed her.</p><p>Her horse, having reared at the unexpected onslaught of pieces of wood - Rowena would still find some days later in her hair - was a fairly good deterrent and it took only a moment to reach the stage through the hysterical crowd. The woman still kneeled on the platform, her golden hair flying around her, aided by an unblowing breeze. Rowena extended a hand.</p><p>"Take my hand."</p><p>When Helga Hufflepuff would look back on this moment, she would swear to every deity that Rowena Ravenclaw was indeed a guardian angel sent from the heavens to save her. But thankfully the sudden appearance of such a beautiful woman, even if she was unfamiliar and covered in dirt, especially one with a getaway horse, was enough to snap Helga out of her stupor at the magic she had just managed. She took Rowena's hand none too delicately and jumped onto the back of the horse.</p><p>Hours later, at the next town over, or perhaps the next, because maps were not a thing that either woman possessed at the time, the two would share their stories, and after a few too many whiskeys, a bed. But that, my dear readers, is a tale for another time.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello hello! I hope you enjoyed this, it was written from a "failed execution" prompt!! This chapter is Helga's, and the next two will have Godric and Salazar respectively. There might also be a 5th and 6th chapter who knows!</p><p>If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, concerns, feel free to leave me a review!</p><p>Lo &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>